


Madmen

by coy_pepe



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-24
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-05-16 03:39:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 17,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5812378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coy_pepe/pseuds/coy_pepe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anya Miller is one of the most talented agents LEAF has ever seen. At 23, she's already accomplished more than most agents would accomplish in their entire career. Her new mission is simple; infiltrate the infamous gang Akatsuki and destroy them before they have time to launch their terrorist attack but Anya finds her feelings towards a certain Uchiha clouding her judgement and making this mission the most difficult one she's ever been assigned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

1\. FRANCE  
August 31st  
PARIS, FRANCE – 21:47  
            She emptied her round before pressing her back against the bottom of the upturned table on the floor, holding a small pistol in each hand, close to her chest. The pearl necklace she wore shifted with her movements.  
            “Elle ne peut pas rester là toujours,” one of the men shooting at her yelled.  
            The woman pushed aside the bottom of her white, fake fur coat to reveal the slit at the side of her long black dress. Wrapped around her toned thigh with Velcro was a small container holding more ammunition.  
            “What did you say?” She shouted, struggling to be heard over the shower of bullets and glass shattering. She moved her ‘earring’ closer to her ear with her shoulder while her hands moved to load the weapon.  
            “I said this wasn’t supposed to happen,” her partner repeated.  
            She took a second to touch the black, small microphone on her chin that looked like a mole to see if it was still in place. Once she felt it was, she got back to business.    
            “No shit, Neji,” she sniped in her thick British accent.  
            The sound of bullets whizzing past Agent Miller dulled and she took the opportunity to hop up on her knees, raising her arms above the table and fired blindly into the general direction of her enemies. She heard a few groans of pain.  
            “Vous êtes des bâtards!” She yelled in a perfect French accent, firing a few more times before dropping back to safety. She’d been one of the best with French and it was part of the reason why they’d assigned her and her partner to this mission.  
            “What’s your status?” She asked once she was back in position, cupping her ear to hear her partner better.  
            “No need to get prissy,” Neji huffed. “I’m up here with three guys shooting at me but I’ve got the only machine gun.”  
            Anya nearly dropped her own weapons.  
            “Machine gun,” she repeated. “How the bloody hell did you manage to get that?”  
            “This louse dropped it when he went down,” Neji explained before he groaned loudly in pain.  
            “What’s happened?” She asked, worriedly. She didn’t like how intense things were getting. She’d had her fair share of shootouts but never had she been in one that had lasted more than a few minutes.  
            “Just got nipped,” he said, his voice sounding strained.  
            “Well you’ve got the upper hand,” she stated.  
“I can finish up here quickly and be outside your exit in two minutes, you reckon you’ll last that long?”  
            She looked around herself for a piece of debris large enough for what she had planned. She found the leg of a chair and although it wasn’t what she’d been expecting, Miller decided to go with it. She thought about wrapping her jacket around the wood, but she thought she’d heard rain outside and didn’t want to rough the weather without a jacket if Neji couldn’t get the car.  
            Tossing the leg in the air to the right, Miller dove to the left, sliding easily on the marble floors of the ballroom to the next safe haven while the wooden peg she’d thrown up became riddled with bullets before it had the chance to hit the ground.  
            Just as she made it to safety, something went straight by her ear, making it ring noisily. She knew it had been a bullet and tried not to become too worked up over the near death experience. She needed to hold it down where she was.  
            “Hurry up, yeah?” She said.  
*  
            She’d ended up taking matters into her own hands when Neji hadn’t said anything back and the bullets began raining harder. She’d run out of ammunition but couldn’t just leave the guns there when they had her fingerprints all over them. She’d slipped them under the seat of their mission issued, ratty, silver Nissan, driving away from her exit, E, to the Neji’s, C.  
            Just as she suspected, the rain outside was heavy and she’d put the windshield wipers onto their highest setting. She pulled up to the door and kept the car idle. She glanced at the tank and groaned. The needle would last them an hour max, but headquarters was a four hour drive away.  
            “Neji, get your arse out here!”  
            Just as she said it, the door slammed open and he came over, without his machine gun, opened the car door and collapsed into the passenger seat before slamming the door behind him, his, long, brown hair whipping around and splashing her with a bit of water.  
            “Oh come off it, Anya,” he muttered.  
Anya was slamming her foot on the gas pedal, racing out of the parking lot and into the road before Neji had a chance to even fasten his seatbelt. She looked anxiously in her rear-view mirror for any cars that might be following them. She saw two that looked familiar from the parking lot filled with vehicles.  
            “We’re being followed,” the two of them said.  
            Anya looked over to her partner and noticed the way the streetlights shone off of his forehead. He was covered in a thin sheet of sweat and his face was fixed in a painful frown, his eyes shut. He still had on his full tux, so she wasn’t too worried about the cold getting to him.  
            Her eyes shot back to the road ahead of her and she saw the sign for the entrance to the highway coming up in ten kilometres. She was grateful; at least one thing was working for her this evening. She was good at car chases and the second it went onto the highway, Anya knew she’d be safe.  
            She looked back to her partner about to let him hear the good news when Anya noticed one of his hands holding the handle on the roof tightly and the other pressed against his abdomen desperately. Dark red blood oozed between his fingers, painting his pale skin rosy red. He groaned again and gritted his teeth.  
            “Just got nipped, eh?” Anya asked angrily.  
            “I think the bullet’s still in there,” Neji told her. He was in too much pain to come up with a snide remark.  
            She looked out for the upcoming highway entrance and used a free hand to shuffle through the miscellaneous items between their seats for the cell phone they’d used throughout the mission.  
            She fished it out, flipped it open and dialled the number for mission control. She pressed the phone to her ear and jerked to the right, narrowly missing a green jeep parked to the side of the road. She only had to wait two rings for someone to pick up.  
            “LEAF mission control,” Shikamaru answered. Anya knew that Shikamaru worked there on his lazy days, but she didn’t remember him ever being on telephone duty. She guessed he’d been punished.  
            “Agent two-thirty-two dash seven speaking,” she greeted.  
            The entrance for the highway came up but she didn’t merge.  
            “What the hell are you doing?” Neji groaned out.  
            She ignored him. Anya knew that with how much blood he was losing, they couldn’t afford to stretch their time so far. If the decision were in Neji’s hands, he’d choose to merge onto the highway, but she wasn’t willing to risk her partner’s life when there was another option.  
            “What do you need?” Shikamaru asked in his usual lazy tone.  
            “Neji got shot,” she told him, “and it’s serious. I need directions to the nearest emergency room.”  
            Shikamaru started to say something, but the sudden noise of police sirens grabbed Anya’s attention.  
            “What a crock of shit,” she yelled. Nothing was going right.  
            Anya glanced over at her partner, curious as to why he hadn’t said anything earlier to see his eyes fluttering closed tiredly.  
            “Wake up, you wanker,” Anya said and shoved her partner. It had probably been too hard, but she couldn’t have him falling asleep. She still didn’t know the extent of his injuries although the shot to the stomach had been an obvious one but the way he was cradling his head let her know he must’ve hit it hard somewhere along the way. After he’d lost so much blood and had possibly gotten a concussion, she wanted him awake so he didn’t go to sleep and possibly fall into a coma.  
            Neji groaned in pain and Anya turned her attention back to Shikamaru.  
            “We’ve got about three police cars on us,” she told him.  
            “Turn right at the next light,” Shikamaru ordered just as Anya ran a red light.  
            She wanted to hit herself.   
“I missed it,” she groaned. “Where’s the next one?”  
            “It’s fine. You got lucky,” Shikamaru said calmly, “just turn right on the next light.”  
            As Anya pulled up faster to the crossing Shikamaru was talking about, she saw the light turning yellow and cursed.  
            “Bloody hell!”  
            She moved the wheel to the right and just barely made it past the few cars lined up to turn. She glanced in her rear-view again and saw that the cars following them had dispersed at the sound of the sirens and the police had been cut off by her abrupt turn.  
            She turned the car and it jostled as she drove over the kerb of the street. Her head hit the roof and she winced when she heard Neji shout out in pain again. She’d forgotten he hadn’t put on a seatbelt and was injured. The phone had dropped when she’d gone over so she ducked down to pick it back up.  
            “We’ll be there in a flash, Neji,” she promised, putting the phone back up to her ear and reaching over to cup the side of the man’s face gently. His skin was hot and clammy but she continued to brush his brow with her thumb, trying to soothe him.  
            “The hospital will be coming up at the end of this block,” Shikamaru informed her.  
            “Thanks a bunch,” she grinned.  
            “I’ll get a message sent out to the police. When the doctors take Neji, give yourself up and we’ll handle the rest.”  
            Anya nodded and then realizing that Shikamaru couldn’t see her, said she understood.  
            “Make sure you take the phone with you,” he gave as a final warning.  
            “Sure thing,” she said and then hung up, sliding the phone into her bra.  
            She looked back to Neji’s injury and saw a large section of her coat was soaked in his blood.  
            “We’re almost there,” she told him before pulling into the drop-off section of the hospital in front of the doors to a few people’s dismay.  
            She hopped out of the car and slid over the roof to Neji’s side. He’d tried to open the door himself and it hit Anya’s nose before stumbling out. He hadn’t taken in how drowsy he’d be and he nearly fell but Anya put her arm around his back and put her hand on top of the one that was putting pressure on his injury.  
            Neji leaned on Anya and she couldn’t help but press a quick kiss to his cheek.  
            “We need a medic!” She yelled when they went through the doors.  
            At first, they only received annoyed glances from the people waiting and other hospital staff – of course they got that saying here a few hundred times every day. Some from people with splinters and some from those who’d accidentally chopped off their finger – but when they saw the blood soaked coat and Neji’s limp, the patients’ jaws dropped and the staff sprang into action.  
            She let them take him away from her but she disappeared out the door before they could start asking her questions. Just as the rain hit her outside, she heard sirens pulling up to the hospital.  
            When the police cars came into view, Anya immediately put her hands up in the air and concealed every emotion from her face as the rain water rinsed Neji’s blood off of her hands and made the hair that she’d pulled back into a tight bun shrink up and start frizzing.  
            “Hands in the air,” An officer ordered.  
            “Already done that,” she muttered but didn’t dare say anything loud enough for them to hear.  
            Three officers came out of their cars, but only one approached her, gun ready.  
            “I don’t have any weapons on me,” she told him, “but there are two empty pistols in the car I was driving.”  
            The man, who was old enough to be her grandfather, frowned. He had long white hair and dark eyes.  
            “She is unarmed,” he shouted to his co-workers with an East-Asian accent.  
            “Check anyway,” one of them said back.  
            A smirked graced his lips and his eyes narrowed.  
            “My pleasure,” he muttered before going up behind her and widening her stance so that he could search her. She didn’t feel comfortable being patted down in such a tight dress, but Shikamaru had said they’d handle it and she guessed that if this man tried anything, she could just tell them what he’d done and they’d handle it.  
            His hands patted down her arms and then he bent down to start on her ankles, his hands lingering too long on her thighs. He went to check her hips and she frowned at the way his fingers dug into her.  
            “Watch your hands there,” she warned, hating having to put on the helpless civilian act.  
            She was just out of the light from the hospital, but the other officers should have been able to see what was going on. The only reason they wouldn’t stop it would be if they were in on it.  
            His hands patted her stomach and breasts – either he felt the phone and didn’t bother to say anything or he’d been too excited with getting to touch a pair of tits to notice – and finally, as if it was all one big joke, he gave her bum a resounding slap before pulling her hands down to be cuffed.  
            Anya was shocked at first but it quickly melted into fury and the man had to yank her arms down in place. She was tempted to take on this man by herself with the two other officers with guns on her, but she knew it would only complicate things. It took every bit of will power she had not to pull away from his grasp and kick him into next week. She was a federally trained agent; she didn’t have to take that type of behaviour from anyone.  
            “I said watch it, you disgusting louse,” she spat.  
            The handcuffs clicked behind her and the white haired man pushed her into his car, making sure to slam her forehead against the side before she got in.  
            “You’re in no place to be making demands.”  
            He slammed her door and hopped into the driver’s side.  
            The radio was on as they drove, but Anya’s eyes were burning holes in the back of the man’s head, thinking of different ways she could kill him while he drove and make it look like an accident. It was only when she heard her own name that she started listening.  
            “… One of the criminals – Neji LeRou –,” Anya smiled at the fake last name they’d given him, “died while at the hospital from a bullet wound and his accomplice, Anya Zufiche, died from serious wounds while in police custody.”  
            The white haired police officer looked at his radio as if it had grown a head.  
            “What the hell?”  
            Anya cracked a smile at the cover story. They sure did work fast. She sat smugly in the backseat as his private radio went off. He picked it up while sneaking suspicious glances to Anya in the mirror.  
            “Jiraiya-San,” it was Shikamaru’s voice.  
            Jiraiya’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head and he quickly turned the volume down on the radio so Anya wouldn’t be able to hear as well.  
            After a few short mumbles and nods from the officer, he put down the radio and refused to look at her through the mirror.  
            He only spoke when he’d pulled up to a dark street and took Anya out, undoing her handcuffs.  
            “That silver Audi,” he shouted above the rain, looking at his feet and pointing to the car down the road, “is the one they said you can drive to where you need to go.”  
            He turned on his heel to walk away, but Anya grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. Pulling her hand back, Anya thrust her palm into his nose.  
            His head snapped back and his hands went up to slow the gushing blood.  
She grabbed him by his collar and jerked him forward so he’d hear her threat over all the noise.  
            “If I hear you getting off with mistreating anyone else, I’ll find you and personally bash your head in.”  
            She let the whimpering, scared cop go and turned, walking as fast as her black heels would allow, to get out of the downpour.  
            When she opened the expensive car, she found a blanket, keys, a towel, some money, a map, a few granola bars and a new cell phone in the passenger seat. She put the towel on the seat before she sat down and closed the door behind her.  
             The first thing she did was put the keys into the ignition and blast up the heat. She didn’t even make an attempt to dry her hair; it was thick and kinky and would take hours to dry by itself. The tank was full but she didn’t want to start driving before she’d gotten warm. The adrenaline would wear off in a few minutes and she’d feel the exhaustion from running around all day, taking care of Neji and surviving that shootout. It would be hard enough to drive. She didn’t want to pile ‘uncontrollable shaking’ onto the lists of reasons she shouldn’t get on the road.  
            She flipped down the dashboard and looked at herself in the mirror. She saw a faint trace of blood in her nose and realized that the blow she’d taken from Neji had been harder than she’d realized but all the adrenaline had dulled it.  
            Once the feeling returned to her fingers and toes, she glanced at the map and quickly found where she was and which highway she needed to go on to get back to base. Looking it over one more time, Tatsuki took the phone out of her dress, dropped it onto a seat, picked up a granola bar to eat and began driving.  
            An hour into it, the adrenaline had worn off just like she’d anticipated and she felt a steady throb in her head from where the car had connected and in her nose from when Neji had opened the door in her face. The pain made her want to fall asleep all the more and Anya had to turn on the radio to stay awake. It was when she was half an hour away that she picked up her phone to call mission control once more.  
            “LEAF mission control,” Shikamaru answered.  
            “Agent two-thirty-two dash seven,” Anya said again.  
            “What do you need?”  
            “I’m just letting you know everything went according to plan. How’s Neji?”  
            “We’re busy with our calls right now, Anya,” Shikamaru said, “You can ask someone when you come back to headquarters but I have three other agents on hold.”  
            “Sorry,” Anya apologized, feeling sore over Shikamaru’s abrupt conversation but understanding his reasoning.  
            “We can talk more later,” he promised, his voice growing a tad bit warmer.  
            “Sure thing,” she said and hung up.  
            When Anya came up to the gate, the rain had died down and she rolled down the window to look at the guards.  
            “Menma, ___,” Anya greeted. They raised their hands to her and opened up the gate.  
            She parked the car and then walked back to them and handed over the keys, phones and her weapons. She’d left the rest in the car as all agents were instructed to always do.  
            “The chairwoman would like to see you,” Menma called to Anya before she went too far to hear her.  
            Anya turned and gave them a thumbs up to let them know she’d heard them but as soon as she turned back around, she groaned and rubbed her eyes. Everyone at LEAF knew the chairwoman to either talk your ear off after a mission or to get right down to business and take no longer than five minutes to say what needed to be said but there was no in between. So people usually took their time heading into her office after missions.  
            She knew she probably looked like crap. Her hair didn’t do well in rain and she was exhausted and was running on three hours of sleep.  
            She turned a corner and went down the hallway with the chairwoman’s office and saw Sakura hard at work. There were clear windows around that lab – different from the white walls LEAF had been constructed with – and Anya saw her pouring different coloured liquids into steaming breakers that sat on Bunsen burners.  
            She continued walking and entered the small waiting room right outside the chairwoman’s office. All along the walls were pictures of the former chairmen. The first had brown skin and long, dark hair. His name was long and Japanese and Anya could never remember it. She knew it started with an H. Next was his brother. She’d heard rumours about how severe he could be with his punishments and that he’d distrusted Italians and only gave them low danger missions. The third had been an old geyser but the fourth had been an attractive, young, blond man. Now this was our fifth leader.  
            “She’s expecting you,” the secretary, Shizune, said. “You can head right in.”  
            Anya nodded and headed into the room without anymore conversation with Shizune. When she’d first arrived, Anya had come with a nasty temper and attitude and was almost always in the chairwoman’s office and every time she’d come in, Shizune would give her a disapproving look that would only stir the young girl up and get her into even more trouble. She’d cooled down a bit since her first few years at LEAF but she still came in every few months for something and Anya still felt a bit sore because of Shizune’s condescending tones and disapproving looks.  
            The young woman entered the office and closed the door behind her.  
           The chairwoman put the files she’d been holding in her hand down and nodded to Anya in greeting. She kept her pen in one hand and pushed her nameplate that read Tsunade over to the side. Anya moved to sit down in one of the two black chairs in front of her desk, but the chairwoman shook her head.  
            “I’ll be quick,” Tsunade promised.  
            Anya deflated and smiled.  
            “Thank God; I’m exhausted.”  
            She’d meant to say it in her head and was still for a moment. Tsunade had a temper – it had been the only reason why she’d been able to handle Anya and her antics – and Anya had learned not to set the blonde woman off. But to her relief, the woman only smiled.  
            “I’m eager to hear what happened on this mission,” Tsunade started. “It seems like you’ve done some very impressive work.”  
            Anya nodded and thanked her.  
            “I’m sure you’re worried about your partner,” Tsunade said suggestively. Anya fought the urge to roll her eyes and instead she shrugged.  
            “They had to have an emergency surgery but now they’re saying he’s stable and should be released from the hospital in three or four days.”  
            “Three or four days for a bullet wound?”  
            It was the blonde’s turn to shrug.  
            “He should consider himself lucky; it could have been much worse.”  
            Anya nodded and couldn’t help but start bouncing on her feet. She was eager to leave, drive to her apartment and just drop on her bed.  
            “I’m giving you the day off tomorrow,” Tsunade said but before Anya could cheer, she dumped on the catch. “But since Neji is in the hospital, I need your report to include the things that his would have as the team leader.”  
            Anya slouched again.  
            “Isn’t he coming out of there in a few days?” She complained  
            “Don’t be daft, Anya,” Tsunade chided, “he’s recovering from a bullet wound.”  
            She knew Tsunade was being fair, but this was the reason why she never wanted to be team leader; less work and her mission reports didn’t have to be a thousand pages long.  
            “Yeah, alright; I’ll get on it.”  
            “Do you have any injuries that you didn’t have the time to check on?”  
            The throbbing from earlier had come back with Tsunade’s reminder. With how sleepy Anya felt, the pain had mercifully ebbed away to the back of her mind, her body only letting her feel how tired she was, but now she felt her nose and head aching.  
            “Neji banged the door on my nose and it’s been hurting like a b-,” Anya stopped herself and reworded the sentence, knowing how Tsunade felt about cursing, “and it’s been hurting very badly.”  
            Tsunade’s eyes danced with amusement at Anya’s slip up.  
            “And that pervert of a police officer that picked me up banged my head on the side of the car before putting me in.”  
            Tsunade frowned at that.  
            “Jiraiya,” She said in disbelief.  
            Anya nodded and continued on, feeling a rant bubbling up.     
            “And the arse hat was more than happy to cop a feel when they told him to search me.”  
            Tsunade glared at her desk, her mind elsewhere and Anya stood there, not knowing what else to say. The older woman had been so shocked that she hadn’t reprimanded Anya for her language.  
            “Uh, Tsunade,” Anya started.  
            “Oh, yes,” the blonde began, “excellent work today. Go to the medical unit to have your head looked at and then you’re free to do as you wish.”  
            Anya wanted to groan again.  
            This was the part she hated most about missions; you came back dead tired feeling like crap and you still had to go get a check-up.  
            “Oh, alright,” she grumbled.  
*  
            When everything was finished with her check-up, they’d told her that her nose might get a bit swollen and she had narrowly missed getting a minor concussion. As the girl stood in front of the elevator, she reasoned with herself. Anya knew she’d be too tired to drive all the way to her apartment which was a good thirty minutes from LEAF and decided to just head up to her dorm to sleep.  
            It wasn’t a bad place; every agent got their own dorm except for the rookies who had to share in groups of two or three. Every room had its own spacious washroom with a shower or bath, – depending on what you requested – a television, game system, a dresser, a desk to do any work, a twin bed, a mini fridge that, depending on your age, was always stocked with alcohol or pop, a shelf to keep any books and lots of space for anything else you wanted to buy.  
            Anya had slipped out of her black dress and pulled a dirty nightgown over her head. She didn’t want to dirty up new clothes before she got the opportunity to shower and there was no way she’d stand up for ten minutes cleaning herself off now.  
            There was only one last thing she had to take care of; her hair.  
            She’d made the mistake of going to sleep with it out when she’d been as tired as this and when she’d woken up and tried to comb through it, she’d been tempted to cut it all off. In the end, she’d had to go to a salon and get them to comb it out and even then, they’d had to cut through a few knots.  
            With a Jamaican mother and full Trinidadian father, her black roots had never made life easier but they’d sure as hell made her stronger and more knowledgeable. If anything, it had been because of the several disadvantages why she’d developed such a bad temper. When she’d first come to LEAF at sixteen, she’d just been dipping her toes into her history and over the years, had slowly become more confident and prouder of her skin and the history and beauty it represented. First she hated her brown skin, kinky hair, big lips and wide nose, but she had no problem getting off with men she fancied and she saw only beauty in those physical traits that were unique to her race.  
            Anya got out the comb and oil and began working on her hair, plaiting it down into big, neat cornrows for her to undo in the morning.  
            When she’d finished, she wiped her hands on her dirty dress and put the comb and oil back in their place and then slipped into bed, tying the black durag around her head.       
            Even though her body screamed for sleep, she thought about what Tsunade said. She really wished people would come off it.  
            When she’d first come to LEAF, Neji had run into her on a bad day and the two of them had an argument. Anya hadn’t been the only one with an attitude problem and Neji gladly escalated the situation by shoving Anya into a wall. Never one to back away from a fight, Anya tackled Neji to the ground. He’d just finished basic training and was a better fighter than her because of it. He’d pinned her down with a bloody nose in no time and when the teacher had pulled them away, she’d swung at his jaw with her thumb folded in and although she’d bruised his face, she’d broken her thumb.  
            They’d hated each other right after that incident and it had driven Anya to be the best with her self-defence and karate. She’d only become a third dan black belt – better than Neji – when she was eighteen and by then, the dynamic of their relationship had changed dramatically. It took one drunken night for them to find themselves waking up naked in each other’s beds, sore and embarrassed, the evidence making it obvious that they’d shagged. A few other ‘accidents’ arose before they went public. That only lasted a month before they ended it and then became good mates.  
            Still, that entire month, they’d been all over each other and as long as the two were in the same room, you’d find them snogging or basically dry humping. When they’d broken up, people had been relieved but hadn’t bothered to stop teasing them about it. Even now, five years later, the agents that were old enough to have known them when they were eighteen kept having a go at them.  
            Anya turned on her side and closed her eyes. Her mind drifted to the praise she’d get for completing such a high ranking mission and she grinned. Oh boy did Anya love praise. It was one of the reasons why she and Neji had broken up.  
            She just hoped she wouldn’t wake up in the middle of the night needing to go for a pee.


	2. MISSION

  1. **MISSION**



_September 1 st_

LONDON, ENGLAND – 11:36

            When Anya’s eyes snapped open she knew she had slept in. She sat straight up in bed, looking at the closed door to the washroom. Her bed was pressed up in the corner of the room so she rolled over to the left and ran to the washroom. She’d have to shower double to try and get back onto her schedule.

            Anya kept the cloth around her head as she showered, careful not to get her hair wet.

            She brushed her teeth and splashed her face with a bit of water before slipping on her black LEAF t-shirt and dark trousers. There were different coloured shirts for the different LEAF ranks. ORANGE shirts were for visitors. WHITE shirts were for staff. PURPLE was for the kiddies who lived on campus but were too young to be agents (the minimum age was eighteen). GRAY was for the people who’d finished basic training and were eligible for missions. RED shirts were for outstanding performance on a single mission and BLACK shirts, like the one Anya wore, were given for outstanding performance over a series of missions.

            She pulled the cloth off of her head, slipped on her blue joggers and walked to the elevator to bring her down from the fourth floor. She began undoing her braids as she walked until her hair fell in large curls to her shoulders. Just before she turned to the hallway with the elevator, she saw a dark blue haired girl standing in the middle of the walkway, eyes puffy and red, looking lost. The girl wore a purple shirt and Anya took pity on her.

            “Have you got the time?” Anya asked, startling the girl.

            Her big gray eyes found Anya and she spoke in a quiet almost mouse-like voice.

            “Quarter to noon.” The girl had an English accent.

            Anya nodded but didn’t leave.

            “You all right, mate?”

            The girl held her hands behind her back and sniffled.

            “I’ve just arrived,” she mumbled, “and I can’t find my cousin or my little sister.”

            Anya looked at her curiously. LEAF rarely got family members coming in together that weren’t brother and sister.

            “Who’s your sister?”

            “Hanabi,” she replied. The name didn’t ring any bells for Anya.

            “And your cousin?”  

            “Neji,” she answered.

            Anya smiled and looped her arm with the younger girl’s.

            “I’m your cousin’s partner. He’s in the hospital for a bit,” when she saw the alarm on the young girl’s face she added, “It’s nothing serious.”

            “I don’t know where I’ll go,” the girl admitted.

            “It’s about noon, right?”

            The girl nodded.

            “You can come along and eat with my mates,” Anya said with a smirk.

            “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to impose –.”

            Anya waved her away.

            “Don’t be daft; you’ll get along with everyone.”

*

            It was only when Anya got to the table to eat that she remembered Tsunade had given her the day off and the rush she’d gone through had been in vain.  

            Everyone was already at the table when she got there. Four sat on each side of the table, leaving two open seats on either side available. It was Lee; Neji’s mate and the best fighter LEAF had ever seen. He was the same age as Neji and Anya and then Kiba who’d arrived from Australia the same time as Sasuke and Naruto. He had the accent to prove it. Next was Sasuke who’d arrived four years after Anya following four years of bouncing from foster home to foster home and was three years younger than her. He was Japanese. Finally on the edge was Naruto – he’d come from America around the same time as Sasuke and the two were the same age. In front of them were Chouji – also Japanese –, Shikamaru – who was from Brazil –, Sakura who’d come from Switzerland straight to LEAF as a child because her parents had worked here and Karui who was born in London with parents from Nigeria. Tenten, the other agent around Anya’s age, would have been there, but she’d left for a mission a week before Anya and Neji had and was still on it.

            “Morning,” Anya greeted with the young girl at her side. 

            Naruto, Kiba and Lee’s eyes nearly bugged out of their heads at the sight of the new girl. Anya had to admit she was well fit. She had a pretty face and her hair reached her waist, something that was rare around LEAF. Most agents kept their hair short and if they did grow it out, it was almost always up.

            “Met this rookie while I was coming down the **trolley** ,” Anya explained.

            Anya motioned for the girl to take a seat beside Naruto while she sat beside Karui. When she settled and noticed the two boys still staring at her, she coughed before digging into her turkey and mashed potatoes.

            “She’s Neji’s cousin so don’t even think about getting off with her.”

            Naruto, Kiba and Lee’s eyes both snapped forward.

            “So what’s your name?” Sakura asked kindly.

            Anya realized that she’d never asked the girl that question.

            “Hinata,” she responded timidly. 

            “How old are you?” Naruto asked.

            “Seventeen.”

            “Nice to have you,” Chouji said with a mouthful of food.

            “So were you gonna tell us about the mission or...?” Karui asked, impatient with the small talk about the newbie.

            She and Anya had been friends since they’d gotten paired together for basic training six years ago. They thought alike and even had the same short temper. Karui was a few inches taller than Anya and had a slimmer build than the shorter, curvier girl. Karui also had long hair that she continuously dyed red. Anya swallowed the food in her mouth and took a sip of juice from her carton.  

            “It nearly went tits up,” she told her table. “There was a massive shootout and Neji got hurt.”

            “I heard you got prissy and whacked an officer upside the head,” Naruto grinned. Although the blond was born in Detroit, he’d moved to London at eight years old before his parents had died.

            Anya blanched.

            “Where’d you hear that?”

            Naruto, Lee, Sakura, Karui and Kiba couldn’t help but smile at Anya’s expression.

            “It’s all over campus; Tsunade got the call earlier this morning about it.”

            “Well shit,” Anya cursed, slumping in her chair, “there goes my day off.”

            “Why do you always have to go and start trouble,” Shikamaru asked her.

            Anya sat up straight, angry.

            “It was only a little row and the stud had it coming.”

            Anya crossed her arms over her chest and the younger agents in front of her leaned forward.

            “What did he do?”  

            “He slammed my head on the car, felt up my breasts and slapped my bum.”

            Naruto and Kiba burst out laughing.

            Anya slammed her fist on the table, nearly spilling turkey all over it.

“It isn’t funny,” she shouted.

            "Me," Karui smiled. 

            The boys quieted once they saw Anya becoming upset. The two had both witnessed firsthand just what damage Anya could do when she was angry.

            She crossed her arms again.

            “He’s an ugly pig and I gave him what he had coming.”

            “Tsunade didn’t seem too cheeky about it,” Karui commented with a smile.

            “I didn’t even really hurt him,” Anya complained. “I punched his nose; that’s it. With how angry I felt, I could’ve had a real go at the bastard.”

            “Still,” Shikamaru reasoned, “you should have let Tsunade handle it. She knew that officer personally and would have done him in pretty well but now that her agent’s assaulted an officer, she’s got a lot to clean up. She can’t very well explain to their police force why you got a freebie or where you are. They can’t even look you up because you technically don’t exist. She’s up to her ears in crap.”

            Anya frowned and groaned.

            “I thought I would’ve had fun telling you all about the mission.”

            “You shouldn’t worry much,” Karui said. “You always find a way to get out of your punishments.”

            “Yeah,” Kiba began, “Whenever I get 400 punishment laps to do, I’ve always gotta finish them but you only do about a hundred before you’re called to go on a mission.”

            Anya smiled mischievously and shrugged her shoulders cockily.

            “What can I say?” She asked and pointed to her shirt, “you can’t stay mad at a black shirt for too long.”

            “You’re a terrible agent,” Kiba frowned.

            “So terrible I’m wearing a black shirt?” Anya shot back.

            “Come off it,” Naruto pouted, looking at his own red shirt.

            Chouji, Kiba, Sakura and Karui all wore gray shirts while Naruto, Lee and Shikamaru wore red shirts. Sasuke had gotten his black shirt four months earlier on a mission he’d been on with Anya.

            “You’re all jealous that I’m the better agent,” Anya gloated.

            “Don’t wind us up, Anya,” Shikamaru frowned. “You might even have that taken away with how upset Tsunade is.”

            Anya had to admit he was right. She caused trouble, but she’d always been able to fall back on the fact that she was one of the best agents at LEAF. But she knew in the back of her head that that would only last so long before she really stirred Tsunade up and was kicked out of LEAF.

            “I should go see her,” Anya decided. “She likes when her agents confront her before she has to go search for them.”

            “Yeah,” Karui agreed. “Go grovel on her floor to keep your precious black shirt.”

            Anya frowned and shot her friend a mean look.

            “Go on, kiddie,” Karui said jokingly.

            “Lemme at least finish my meal,” Anya frowned, her good mood already ruined.

            “Oi,” Kiba began, “you’re just gonna throw it all up after your laps, anyway.”

            He, Naruto and Karui snickered but Anya didn’t do anything to silence them and instead focused on finishing her food.

            Tsunade was always lecturing Anya on how much the other, younger agents looked up to her and how she had to at least act decent so they’d follow suit. She could see why; she’d received her yellow shirt on her first mission and had gotten her black shirt while she was just nineteen. It had been a record for the youngest anyone had been to get a black shirt and since then, her LEAF career had soared high and she was sure that eventually, when she retired, her name would go down in LEAF history.

            Many of the purple shirts and other gray shirts would gather in groups, whisper and point whenever she walked by with her group of friends. Whenever Tsunade needed a particular agent to get it through their head that they needed to behave better, she called up Anya to punish them.

            Anya didn’t particularly like pushing other agents around. She guessed she just didn’t have the heart to make them cry and grovel for mercy like the other training instructors did. It was especially awkward when they were closer to her age, but when she did it, Tsunade would lighten whatever punishment Anya was facing in return. Even though Anya was never as harsh as the staff, the other agents looked up to her and they got the message loud and clear.

            Now word had gotten around that she’d lost her cool on a mission and had hit an officer. Tsunade would have to give her a severe punishment to show everyone that might be thinking it was a cool idea that it was unacceptable.

            Anya groaned again through her mouthful of food.

*

            “She’s been waiting for you,” Shizune said to the young agent.

            Anya thanked Shizune sarcastically and walked into the office. The door had just clicked shut when Tsunade leapt into it.

            “You assaulted an officer?”

            Tsunade’s voice was calm and controlled and Anya, for the life of her, couldn’t guess what the chairwoman was thinking.

            “Yes,” Anya answered feebly.

            Tsunade rubbed her eyes with frustration.

            “Jesus, Anya,” the blonde said, “I thought you’d worked on your temper!”

            Anya kept quiet.

            “Do you remember the warning I gave you the last time you fought with someone over something trivial?”

            Anya nodded and bit her bottom lip.

            “Do you need some refreshing? Because it seems to me like you’ve either forgotten or don’t think my rules are important enough to follow!”

            The younger woman looked to the ground, too ashamed to meet Tsunade’s eyes. The blonde’s calm voice was gone and she was full out shouting.

            “I said that if you didn’t work on that temper of yours, you’d be kicked out of LEAF, do you remember that?”

             Anya’s eyes snapped to Tsunade, her heart in throat now that she realized what the chairwoman was getting at. Hot tears pricked her eyes and anger bubbled over inside of her. She’d thrown all she had into LEAF and although she’d never admit it, Anya loved the association. She’d come here after her parents had died like most of the other agents and the base had quickly become a family for her… a home. She’d learned everything she knew in this place from the six languages she was fluent in, to the self defence to how to disarm a bomb.

            When people retired, they either became a part of the staff, or LEAF set them up with a high end job but Anya couldn’t imagine a life without missions. Not yet, anyway.

            “So you’re gonna kick me out?” Anya asked with a scowl, hating how her voice wavered.

            Tsunade didn’t respond. She just sat back in her chair.

            “He touched me!” Anya screamed bitterly. “I’m sure that everyone will understand that as a leaf, you’re expected to let perverted old men touch you without setting them straight. Everyone knows how bad your own temper used to be, Tsunade, so don’t try to stitch me up for the same things you’d have done at my age!”

            “You will not speak to your chairwoman that way.”

            “Well you won’t really be my chairwoman in a bit, will you?” Anya sneered.

            Then she wiped her tears away and looked back down at her feet, realizing she was acting like a child.  

            “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “You did give me a warning and I disregarded it. I’ll pack my things and be out in two days.”

            Anya turned on her heel without being dismissed. She felt tears coming and she wanted to at least leave with a bit of dignity. Although, if Shizune dared to give her a look she was pretty sure she’d pummel the secretary.

            “You haven’t been dismissed,” Tsunade said.

            Anya stopped walking to the door and nodded. She turned back to face her with her back against the door.

            “I knew that gent you punched and was surprised with his actions. He’s been suspended for three weeks without pay. You’re right in saying that I would’ve done the same thing. That same man tried something similar with me and I nearly beat him to death.”

            Anya’s mouth opened before she quickly slapped it shut.

            “I’m not very sore over it,” Tsunade admitted, “but your actions bring up a serious question.”

            “What’s that?”

            “Did you not trust us to handle him?”

            Anya laughed easily and shook her head. The blast of anger she’d felt earlier had completely disappeared by now.

            “I can’t stand stupid old codgers like him thinking I’m a piece of meat,” She explained. “It’s a personal thing.”

            Tsunade gave her a small smile.

            “You’re lucky I understand,” the chairwoman said. “I actually wanted to speak with you about taking up another mission.”

            Anya hid her victorious grin. Just like Kiba said, her punishments either didn’t come or were cut short because they needed her on a mission. She couldn’t wait to gloat to the Australian stud the next time she saw him. She was still a bit shaken up with the idea of coming so close to being kicked out, so she’d keep the gloating to a minimum.

            “You don’t have to go and hide your smile, Anya,” Tsunade told her, “just don’t wind me up for another while.”

            “No promises,” Anya smiled.

            Tsunade shook her head exasperatedly.

            “Run and get Karui, would you?” She asked. “I’ve got a mission briefing for the two of you.”

            Anya nodded enthusiastically and headed back down to the cafeteria, hoping to catch her friends before their classes started back up. On her way out, Shizune shook her head.

“Can’t get rid of me that easy,” she called over her shoulder gleefully.

Anya had headed up halfway through the lunch break and had only spent about five or so minutes with Tsunade so she expected Karui would still be there. The redhead hated language – a class her and Anya used to have together before the latter sped ahead to advanced classes – and usually stayed in the cafeteria right until the warning bell rang.

            She ran, bouncing on her toes and ducking from side to side to avoid the crowds of other agents heading off to their studies. A few laughed and cheered her on, not knowing why she was running but assuming it was from Tsunade. It was only a few years back that Anya had stopped running away from Tsunade whenever she’d been in trouble.

Back in those days, she’d get a call from her teachers to go to the chairwoman’s office and usually a thirty minute chase would ensue. Tsunade sometimes ran after her herself but it was usually other staff members that tried to corner her. Anya had grown out of it, but every now and again, she would run for a good laugh.

Other, straighter agents gave her looks filled with disdain. She slowed down to a brisk walk at the sight of a few white shirts talking together by the hallway in front of the elevator.

            She smiled at them politely before boarding the elevator. Anya was ecstatic with being given a second chance and no one could bugger it up for her.

            “Karui,” Anya shouted once she’d entered the cafeteria.

            Just like she’d thought her mate was sitting at the same table with Sasuke, Kiba, Shikamaru and Naruto. The rest had probably gone with Hinata to show her around.

            When Kiba saw her running towards them, he pointed at her with a smug look but when he realized that Anya wasn’t in a foul mood, his finger dropped and he pouted.

            “She weaselled out of it,” he muttered just as Anya slapped her palms on the edge of the table.

            “You can kiss my arse, Aussie,” she exclaimed with a grin.

            Naruto and Karui laughed.

            “You’re a real riot,” he tutted.

            Anya turned, putting her bum in Kiba’s face before giving it a theatrical slap.

            “I’d pull down my trousers and wave it in your face if I wasn’t on probation,” She grinned.

            “How did you manage it?” Karui asked, turning Anya back around and offering up her desert to the girl.

            Anya gladly took it.

            “Good ol’ chairwoman wasn’t even really sore over it!”

            “You’re joking,” Sasuke remarked.

            Anya shook her head.

            “You’re cutting it close,” Shikamaru warned.

            “You’re right about that,” Anya agreed. “I’ve gotta be on my best behaviour. She said to make sure I don’t rile her up for another long time or else.”

            “You just got an or else?” Naruto asked. He usually cause a lot of trouble around LEAF except his stunts were less innocent than Anya’s and sometimes resembled in someone getting hurt or LEAF property being vandalised. Of course behaviour like that had to be severely punished. Anya always tried to teach him to make trouble in a safer way but at twenty years old, the blond was still trying to make his teenage, crazy years last.

            “I punched a pervert not dangled a purple shirt over a balcony, Naruto,” Anya said pointedly. “Of course they’re going to be more lenient with my punishment.”

            “So why’d you come back here?” Sasuke asked. “Weren’t you enjoying your day off?”

            Anya waved him away.

            “I’ll be sleeping again till dinner but right now,” she put her hand on Karui’s shoulder, “Tsunade wants the two of us in her office for a mission briefing.”

            Karui’s eyes lit up.

            “So I’ll miss language?”

            Anya laughed. She’d suggested that Karui just work hard on her language to get it out of the way, but Karui had brushed her off.

            “Not all of it but you’ll be gone for a bit.”

            “Snidey,” she smiled.

            “I reckon we ought to hurry,” Anya said glancing at the clock at the back of the room. “Tsunade’s waiting on us.”

*

_**CLASSIFIED**_

_MISSION UPDATE FOR: ANYA MILLER & KARUI EMENOGOU_

_THIS DOCUMENT IS PROTECTED WITH A RADIO IDENTIFICATION TAG_

_DO NOT PHOTOCOPY OR MAKE NOTES_

_The Akatsuki_

_The group was founded in 1995 in Aero City, Moscow, Russia. It originally consisted of three civil rights revolutionists who sought to break free from the communist government that reigns over Russia. They rapidly grew in power and in 1996 they had at least 300 members._

_After a failed plan to execute the president, it was thought that the group had become extinct, but they resurfaced again, in 1998, this time in Tokyo, Japan. Only two of the original three founders had survived the killings in Russia. This time, they fought against unjust systematic principles put in place to oppress minorities. They weren’t taken very seriously and grew quiet after a few years of failed rallies and protests._

_In 2003 there were reports of the group in United States but they seemed to have different goals. Their name started coming up from captured members of other gangs who were promised lighter sentences if they cooperated. The information gathered was that the Akatsuki had risen up to be drug lords in Detroit and although it is known that drugs aren’t the only thing they sell illegally, their other methods for getting money are unknown._

_The sign of the Akatsuki is a crimson cloud that they paint onto places they claim as their territory. There are ten dominant members of the Akatsuki. All are listed in the briefing with their ‘street’ names in parenthesis and their pictures attached to the back._

_Omoi GET HIS LAST NAME (Wheels)_

_-Twenty-four years old_

_\- Speaks English and Japanese_

_\- Parents are from Haiti, he was born in Japan_

_\- Thought to have joined in 2007_

_\- Thought to be in charge of a separate illegal trade alongside Tayuya and Kabuto._

_Deidara (Banger)_

_\- Twenty-nine years old_

_-  European background, born in Japan_

_\- Speaks Japanese_

_\- Joined in 2005_

_\- Ex-marine; specializes in warfare_

_Ino Yamanaka_

_\- Twenty years old_

_\-  Born in Ohio_

_\- Speaks English and Japanese_

_\- Joined in 2013_

_\- From a family of accountants and is thought to handle the gang’s financial business._

_Konan (Flower)_

_\- One of the original three founders_

_\- Forty-one years old_

_\- Born in Aero City_

_\- Speaks English, Japanese and Russian_

_\- Thought to be either the leader or co-leader of the Akatsuki_

_Hidan (Slasher)_

_\- Thirty-seven years old_

_\- Speaks Japanese_

_\- Born in Tokyo_

_\- Joined in 2004_

_\- He has a criminal record of several instances of violence in three cases he nearly beat the victim to death. He was given the death sentence in Japan when he was just sixteen years old for murdering six people. He would cut them six-hundred-sixty-six times and watch them bleed to death. It is unclear how he escaped. He is thought to be in charge of the assassinations the gang does._

_Yahiko (Pein)_

_\- The other original founder of the Akatsuki_

_\- Forty-two years old_

_\- Born in Aero City_

_\- Speaks English, Japanese and Russian_

_\- Thought to be leader or co-leader of the Akatsuki_

_Kisame Hoshigaki (Shark)_

_\- Twenty-seven years old_

_\- Speaks Japanese and Korean_

_\- Born in Seoul, South Korea_

_\- Joined in 2004_

_\- Has been arrested several times for fighting all times it was with a sword. It is unclear what his role in the Akatsuki is._

_Kabuto (Snakes)_

_\- Forty-eight years old_

_\- Speaks English_

_\- Born in Detroit_

_\- Joined in 2003_

_\- He has a clean record. He studied chemistry and biology in university and the few killings that had to do with acid is thought to be his work._

_Tayuya_

_\- Twenty-one years old_

_\- Speaks English and Japanese_

_\- Born in Ohio_

_\- Joined in 2013_

_\- Her and Ino Yamanaka had previous relations before the Akatsuki and were both a part of small-time gangs in Ohio before moving to Detroit and joining the Akatsuki. It is unclear what her role in the gang is._

_Itachi Uchiha (Weasel)_

_\- Twenty-six years old_

_\- Speaks English, Japanese, Russian and Korean_

_\- Born in Tokyo, Japan but moved to London, England in 2006 with his younger brother after the murder of his parents._

_\- Has a clean record. It is thought that he takes care of information gathering for the gang. He joined 2007_

_There have been several assassinations and killings that the Akatsuki are suspected of being behind and they’ve been known to resort to terrorism when pressured by police. If two more agents were to infiltrate the Akatsuki and send information back to LEAF, police might be able to put a stop to the terrorist acts and illegal trade._

_The First Phase_

_In August 2007 a LEAF agent – whose name will remain classified – was sent to live in the slums of Detroit (search up some apartment/foster home name in Detroit)._

_The mission objectives were:_

_(1)  To infiltrate the gang known as the Akatsuki and collect information on their criminal activities. In particular, to try and uncover plans for terrorist acts, the methods they use for smuggling illegal drugs into the country and possibly tear the gang down from the inside._

_(2) To gather information about other criminals in the gang and surrounding area with the aim to give the police a better understanding of what they’re up against._

_Progress has been steady and the agent has successfully infiltrated the gang known as the Akatsuki and began associating with members and gaining knowledge while winning the trust of the leader, Nagato Uzumaki, sometimes called Pein._

_Unfortunately, based on information received from this agent, there is evidence that something big is due to pass in the group but one agent will not be enough to take care of it._

_The Revised Mission_

_After a meeting of the ethics committee, a unanimous decision was made to press ahead with the mission using two more experienced agents._

_Word has gone around that the Akatsuki is looking for a few more members to initiate what they have planned. They are looking for members who can speak English, Japanese and INSERT AFRICAN LANGUAGE in order for them to increase their sales and spread their transactions to different countries._

_The team will consist of Anya Miller and Karui Emenogou who will go undercover as cousins. They will work with mission controller Kakashi Hatake._

_Their task will be to infiltrate the Akatsuki and work to help the undercover agent to diffuse whatever the Akatsuki has planned. They will live in the same area as the Akatsuki for the length of the mission._

_Due to the high risk of this mission, overall control for the operation will be handled by chairwoman Tsunade with Kakashi Hatake in charge of day-to-day operations_

_TRAINING AND PRECAUTIONS_

_When this mission was approved, strict conditions were imposed:_

_(1) The ethics committee has placed the mission on seven-day review status. This means that three members of the committee will review the progress of the mission every week. If they feel the situation has become too dangerous they will cancel the operation and order the agents back to campus._

_(2) All agents are reminded of their right to refuse this mission or to withdraw at anytime._

            “Itachi Uchiha as in-…,” Anya trailed off, looking to the two adults in the room with wide eyes.

            Kakashi’s unruly silver hair bounced when he nodded.

            “Sasuke’s older brother.”

            “And the plot thickens,” Karui joked.     

            Anya was shocked that the two siblings had taken such different paths in life. Sasuke had only spoken about his brother once, and he’d been vowing to kill him. It had been the first thing the Uchiha had said around Anya and Naruto had filled her in on what he was so sore over. Sasuke suspected that Itachi had had some involvement with past gangs and had said that his parents’ deaths had been the result of his older brother’s ‘mates’.

            “You reckon he knows Itachi’s in the Akatsuki,” Anya asked.

            Tsunade shook her head.

            “He suspects he’s run off to do more criminal work but he doesn’t know this bit of information and I ask that you two keep it under lock and key.”

            The two agents nodded.

            “We’ve barely got anything on these people and the agent’s been there for what, seven years?” Karui asked. Tsunade glared.

            “We want information but we don’t want him to put his life in unnecessary danger.”

            Anya confirmed to herself that the undercover agent was male.

            “Also, I’m not too cheeky on the idea of being kept in the dark about this third agent,” Karui thought. “I would hate having to tip toe around everyone but Anya.”

            Said girl nodded in agreement.

            “We’re both going to be on this mission, shouldn’t we know?”

            Tsunade frowned and shook her head.

            “We and the ethics committee suspect it’ll be safer for the three of you if you were kept in the dark,” Kakashi said, looking bored as per usual. His medical mask was still in place. Anya had only seen his face once when they’d gone on a mission together and he’d been forced to take it off.

            “I’ve completed missions where I needed to infiltrate gangs before and those ones never had such a high risk,” Anya acknowledged, looking through the pictures on the back. “What’s special with this one?”

            “Those missions passed in places like London and Paris, Anya,” Tsunade said. “This is taking place in west side Detroit. The place is internationally known for its violence both gang and non-gang related. This isn’t the usual mission LEAF would take up but what that agent thinks is going to happen would affect people all the way here in Britain and so we felt the risk might be worth it.”

            “Where are Omoi’s and Itachi’s pictures?” Anya asked, finishing sifting through the pictures.

            “We didn’t manage to get one of the lad recently,” Kakashi answered but moved to pick up a small rectangle off of Tsunade’s desk. He handed it to the girls.

            “This was Itachi at eleven.”

            Anya and Karui both peeked at what looked like a slightly chubbier Sasuke with longer hair. She could see him growing up fit.  

            “We couldn’t get a picture of Omoi.”

            Anya was ready for the challenge of infiltrating another gang and turned to Karui to exchange a smile only to see her looking down at the pages as if they were a death sentence.

            Anya chided herself for not remembering. Karui was still a gray shirt and what this mission demanded was risky even for an agent like Anya but she felt sorry for the position Tsunade’s offer had put her in. This was her chance to finally move up in the ranks and if she successfully completed this mission it would probably mean jumping from gray to yellow. But as she looked at Karui, Anya realized her mate didn’t think was ready for it, which brought the problem.

            Sure, she could refuse the mission, but it would be another long time before she would ever be asked to go on the type of mission that could get her a yellow or black shirt again if she didn’t even take this one.

            “Are the two of you game?” Kakashi asked.

            Anya looked over at Karui.

            “Yes,” the girl answered.

            Smiling to herself, Anya also accepted the mission.

            “Very well,” Tsunade said, “Get a good night’s rest. Anya, I want that mission briefing on my desk before you leave. The three of you will be on a plane to Detroit in the morning.”

            Right before they left the chairwoman’s office, Karui asked how long the mission would last.

            “The very minimum would be two months.”

            She and Anya nodded and talked a bit as Anya walked Karui to her language class.

            “I don’t know if I’m ready,” Karui admitted.

            “Pardon?”

            “You’ve been on plenty of missions, hell you got your yellow shirt on your first one, but we’re the same age and I still haven’t moved from this dreary gray. Me going on this mission will completely mash it up.”

            Anya glanced at Karui sadly. Her mate was right to be a bit doubtful. She didn’t have the same drive for adventure as Anya did and that was part of the reason why she was getting such a bad case of the jitters. Anya wanted to cheer her up.

            “Oh come off it,” Anya said, feigning annoyance, “your knack for making important observations is pretty damned amazing and a lot of times on these missions, that’s the biggest thing you need. Your self defence is good and you know your stuff.”

            Karui shrugged but smiled.

            “I’m glad you talked me into learning Japanese with you.”

            “Stick with me and you’ll always be jammy,” Anya promised.

            “I’ll drop by your room before dinner,” Karui said and waved, walking into her class.

*

            “What’ve you got for your mission?” Naruto asked.

            Karui opened her mouth to tell them but Anya nudged her. Karui had never gotten such a high profile mission and didn’t know how to go about it.

            “It’s classified,” Anya replied pointedly.

            “Oh come now,” Kiba complained. “Karui was just about to tell us!”

            Karui looked at Kiba and then at Anya before nodding.          

            “She’s right. It’s classified.”

            “You’re usually gloating about new missions,” Sakura noted.

            “Tsunade must’ve finally gotten through that thick skull,” Shikamaru said to the pink haired woman.

            “Oh stuff it,” Anya huffed. “It’s not like that.”

            “We won’t tell a single soul,” Lee promised but Anya shook her head.

            “I bet you Neji could charm her into telling us,” Chouji said.

            Anya glared at him exasperatedly. It seemed she couldn’t go a day without someone stirring up that old pot.

            “Oh grow up,” she groaned. “That was five years ago.”

            “Alright,” Naruto said with a cunning grin. “Then maybe my good mate Sasuke could get your panties off and your lips loose?”

            Naruto put his arm around Sasuke just as the raven haired boy had tried to put a fork of food into his mouth and the gravy and rice fell onto his lap. The Uchiha glared at the blond.

            “Lay off, idiot,” The Uchiha mumbled moving out of Naruto’s grasp and grabbing a napkin to clean up the mess.

            “It depends on which lips you’re talking about,” Kiba chimed in. “After Neji, Sasuke probably can’t do much for the nether ones!”

            It was a cheap shot and no one laughed. He was only sent looks with varying degrees of disgust.

            “Alright, pretend I didn’t say anything, I’ll take a walk to let you cool down, yeah?” Kiba suggested, leaving the table with his food.

            “Sometimes I want to wring his neck,” Anya stated, watching his back as he walked away.

            Hinata laughed along with the rest of the table.

            Karui looked back at Sasuke and shook her head.

            “We can’t tell anyone, but you’re especially a no-go, mate,” she laughed but stopped short when she saw the reprimanding eyes Anya regarded her with.

            Sasuke set his napkin down and gave Karui a sharp look.

            “What do you mean by that?”

            Anya slapped her forehead.          

            “She was speaking out of her arse. Just leave it, Sasuke,” she said.

            “What did she mean by that?” Sasuke repeated, his calculating eyes turning to Anya.

            “Don’t worry, mate,” she said.

            “No,” he refused.

            “If you really want to know you can take it up with the chairwoman. If not, just drop it, you nosey tit.”

            Sasuke glared and Anya’s shoulders slumped.

            “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I didn’t mean to call you a nosey tit even though you were acting like quite the nosey tit. Will you ever forgive me?”

            Sasuke let out a noise that was close to a growl and got up with his food.

            “Oh come now, Sasuke, don’t go throwing a hissy fit,” Anya called after him.

            Naruto looked worriedly between his two friends.

            “That wasn’t cool, Anya,” he said seriously.

            Anya shrugged her shoulders as Naruto and Sakura got up to follow Sasuke.

            “Why’d you do that for?” Shikamaru asked.

            “I know Sasuke well enough to figure that he wouldn’t stop until Karui broke and I reckon it’s in his best interest that he doesn’t know what we’ll be doing on this mission.”

            “Is it that serious that you had to go and fire him up?” Shikamaru asked.

            Karui nodded.

            “Anya’s right. I shouldn’t have even brought it up. I really am an idiot.”

            Anya put a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

            “Don’t beat yourself up,” Anya smiled, “it was an honest mistake. Just keep your head up for the mission, yeah?”

            Karui nodded.          

            Anya directed her attention back to the remaining people at her table.

            “Do you know how to get back to your dorm, Hinata?” 

            She nodded.

            “Alright, then I’m off to bed.”  

            “So early?” Karui asked.

            “I’ve got a mission briefing to type up and it looks like there isn’t anyone else to depress.”


	3. Chapter 3

  1. **MEETUP**



_September 3 rd_

DETROIT, MICHIGAN – 15:43

            Anya and Karui were a block away from the pizza place they were supposed to meet the member of the Akatsuki. The sidewalk wasn’t very wide and Kakashi Hatake, their mission controller, had to walk behind them.

            “I’ll be sitting a bit farther away listening to the conversation,” their mission controller told them, “if anything pops up I’ll be there to help.”

            “Are you sure it’s only one member coming?” Karui asked nervously, her hand running through her kinky hair. She still kept it red but decided that having it in its natural texture would be better for the mission. After all, they were supposed to be staying in the apartment of their sick aunt. In that situation, they wouldn’t have the money to pay someone to do it or to buy a flat iron.

            “That’s the situation, but they could very well have a few other members hanging around in case of trouble.”

            Anya felt it was all too easy. LEAF had contacted one of the police officers they’d planted on the force to act crooked to gain the trust of some of the local gangs. The officer then put word out to the Akatsuki that he knew of a young girl who wouldn’t mind getting their hands dirty for some extra cash. As far as they knew, only one of us was supposed to be coming.

            She didn’t think surprising them with two people was a good idea out of fear that they’d find something dodgy about a surprise guest. When she voiced her concerns to Kakashi, he’d said that he agreed with her but Tsunade had originally only wanted Anya on the mission. It was the ethics committee that had refused to let it be a solo mission. However, the police officer had already dropped the dime about one girl and Tsunade thought that suddenly changing the information would make them suspicious.

            So Anya kept quiet and stuffed her hands in the front pocket of her navy hoodie. Neither she nor Kakashi had told Karui about this little mishap in case she got even more anxious than she already was. Anya hated to admit it, but having the less experienced girl on the mission was making her nervous as well. Karui obviously wasn’t confident in her skills and if she slipped up with any information, the two of them could end up dead.

            “A few others?” Karui asked.

            “Calm your tits, would you?” Anya asked, losing patience. She’d been consoling Karui all the way there. They were just about to start the mission and she still wasn’t ready.

            “Well I’m sorry,” Karui said angrily, “I’m not as experienced as you, Anya and –.”

            “Yes and it’s your very first serious mission,” Anya said mocking Karui’s voice.

            “There’s no need to get an attitude,” Karui said bitterly.

            “You’ve been saying the same thing all last night and throughout the flight. You’re like a broken record! Pardon me if I’m not too keen on hearing you go again for another ten minutes.”

            Karui pursed her lips but kept quiet.       

            “You’re a LEAF agent; start acting like one,” Anya added.

            She knew the last part had been unnecessary, but lord did Karui need to get her head up and focus. Anya felt a bit of guilt building up in her subconscious, but she pushed it aside. She had a mission to complete.

            “Cool down, girls,” Kakashi added weakly. Anya knew that he’d been more than a bit annoyed with Karui’s actions but Anya didn’t know the silver haired man to talk to his agents the way Anya just had.

            Anya was still glaring and the redheaded girl shivered. The movement could have been attributed to Anya’s look, but the time was moving to early September. The weather was cool and it felt like fall. Anya was glad that she’d gone with her navy hoodie, black leggings and run down joggers. Karui had even put on a winter jacket because the cold bothered her so much. The only things you could see were her dark black pants and big white coat.

            The only things Anya had on her was a wallet without any ID, fifty dollars, a pay and go cell phone and LEAF issued pepper spray. They didn’t sell pepper spray in London and she doubted you could get anything quite as severe as the one LEAF gave all their agents. It was strong enough to take down an adult grizzly bear.

            “Go time, ladies,” Kakashi whispered before falling back into the crowd so they wouldn’t come in with him.

            Anya opened up the door for Karui who looked like she was ignoring the other girl. Anya didn’t care much; she’d have to speak with her if she wanted to complete the mission.

            So when Karui stopped walking and Anya bumped into her, Anya supposed it was her being a tit. It was only when Karui went behind Anya that she thought something must’ve gone wrong.

            Karui’s eyes were on someone sitting in the booth.

            “I can’t do this,” the redhead girl whispered before leaving the diner.

            Anya was torn between turning around and getting the redhead again. She wanted to continue on with the mission but she also wanted to see what had come over Karui. Her mind was made up for her when she looked into the restaurant and saw a man staring her down.

            His skin was darker than hers but his hair was dyed white. If she hadn’t known better, she’d just think he fancied her after all; her leggings clung to her legs like a second layer of skin. His eyes weren’t hungry, they were calculating.

            She weaved through the tables and booths, not taking her eyes off him. Out of her peripheral, she saw a familiar head of bleach blonde hair and for a second she thought that maybe Ino Yamanka had been the one she would meet.

            She’d been told to look for a man with an Akatsuki ring on his right hand and as she came up to the black man, she found that one, he seemed the same age as her and two, he had to be the Omoi from the mission report.

            She glanced at his hand and saw the ring. She met his eyes once again and smiled at the man. He wore dark pants and a plain white sweater that was open to reveal a v-neck navy top.

            “Omoi,” She said softly, being careful about other people listening.

            As soon as Anya said his name, his eyes became warmer and he took the time to look her over, his eyes drinking in her legs.

            Anya frowned and quickly took a seat opposite him.

            She was supposed to play the part of a calm, cool person. There would be no losing her top on this mission but with the way he eyed her, Anya wondered if she’d have an excuse.    

            “Anya Williams?” Omoi said, extending his hand out for Anya to take. She noted his fingernails were painted white.

            The girl shook it firmly, remembering what LEAF had said on the importance of strong handshakes.

            “Firm,” Omoi commented with a smile. He had an American accent. When she settled back in her seat he eyed her happily. “Want any food, ma?”

            Anya kindly refused and Omoi shrugged.

            “True,” he said, seemingly disappointed that Anya wasn’t up for any date, “right down to business.”

            Anya nodded and leaned forward on the table.

            “What’s a fine thing like you doin’ out here?” Omoi asked. “Your hands seem a little soft for the kinda work we players like to do.”

            Anya’s eyes narrowed.

            “If you’d like,” she said, using her sultry voice, “we could get away from here and I could show you how easily I could overpower you.”

            Omoi tipped his head back and laughed.

            Anya took the chance to look around at the other people filling the diner. She panicked when she saw slicked back silver hair at one booth – Hidan – and long blond hair – Deidara – sitting a few tables away from them. So it was three against one. Maybe that was what Omoi found so funny?

            Anya looked back to Omoi and tried to pretend that she hadn’t recognized the other Akatsuki members.

            “Why do you think some real thugs like us would want another English school girl on our team?” Omoi asked getting serious again.

            “Listen, I heard you were looking for a pair of hands and I’m game for extra money. I’m fluent in English, French and Japanese,” Anya fibbed. In reality she knew more than those three but it’d be hard to explain it if she admitted to knowing six languages. “I can fight and I’m smart. I reckon I’ll be of good use to you and your mates.”

            The man looked at Anya for a bit longer and then smiled deviously.

            “Jesus, your accent is sexy.”

            Anya was only taken aback for a second before her eyes narrowed all over again.

            “How old are you?”

            “Twenty-three,” she answered smoothly.

            “Where’re you from?”

            “London, England. I spent a couple of years in New York when I was sixteen.”

            “What you doin’ out here in Detroit?”

            “I’m staying here with my cousin and aunt.”

            “Do they know you’re in the business?”

            Anya nodded.          

            “My aunt suspects but my cousin knows.”

            “And they’re both cool with it?”

            “They reckon it’s a bit dodgy, but they’ll turn a blind eye to it so long as I’m bringing home cash.”

            “Have you been in a gang before?”

            “Yes,” Anya lied. “Have you heard of the Guardians?”

            Omoi nodded, somewhat impressed. “They’re still pussies compared to what we real players do, but I guess it gives you a bit of experience under your belt.”

            She waited for Omoi to continue, but he just sat back, smiling at her.

            “Am I in or not?” She asked.

            She’d taken a risk in her forwardness but the man seemed to respect her for it.

            “We can’t go into details here, lil ma. We’ll have to see what you’re made of before we assign you with anything big, but I promise I’ll take you under my wing.”

            Anya nodded with a triumphant smile.

            Omoi got up from his seat and offered Anya his arm. She ignored it and got up by herself.

            “I like a challenge,” Omoi said beside her.

            “Just take me to wherever it is I need to go,” she said.

            “You’re red hot,” Omoi commented as they walked out the door and past an alley way. “But I can’t take you seriously with that accent.”

            “Maybe we should have a row so you can see how serious I can –.”

            But suddenly someone had pushed Anya up against the wall to one of the alleys from behind. Her cheek slammed into the grimy brick wall with enough force to bruise it and Anya groaned. Someone’s hand was pressing her back between her shoulder blades while the other held one of her arms behind her.

            “I have to pull out of the mission.”

            It was Karui’s voice by her ear.

            “Who were you with in that diner?” She shouted.

            “Omoi is my cousin and he knows I’m clean as a whistle. If he saw us together he’d have known that something was up,” she whispered hurriedly against Anya’s neck.

            “Beat me up.”

            “What?” Anya muttered, trying to see Karui.

            “Don’t move you piece of scum!”           

            No one tried to help Anya and Omoi had disappeared. If anything, people moved aside from the scene. No doubt their own hands weren’t clean and didn’t want to get mixed up in police action.

            “What were the two of you discussing?”

            Anya snapped out of it and ripped her arm out of Karui’s weak hold. She turned around, the brick wall scraping her nose, and grabbed the hand that had been pressed against her back. She pulled her hand back and punched the girl in the jaw.

            “You can suck my bloody tit,” Anya spat out and before Karui could get her bearings together, Anya dove forward and punched the girl in the stomach, making sure she didn’t go too hard on her friend.

            Still the redhead doubled over her fist as if she’d seriously done some damage.

            Anya took the opportunity to grab Karui by the back of her head and force her to look into her eyes.

            “Tell the rest of those police pigs that they’ll be next if they come for me. I won’t talk so you can shove your questions right up your arse.”

            Anya let the girl drop to the floor and with one swift karate chop to the back of her neck Karui slumped to the floor unconscious.

            Just as Anya stood up straight again, she heard slow clapping from behind her. When she turned, she saw Omoi, Deidara and Hidan. She’d been right about seeing those two, but she guessed she’d mistaken Ino for another blonde woman. Deidara, the man with blond hair and blue eyes, wore on a tight, blue long sleeve shirt. Hidan, with shoulder length, slicked back, gray hair and striking purple eyes, had on a tight, white t-shirt. They all wore dark pants. As an afterthought, Anya checked the two men’s hands. Deidara’s nails were painted light blue and Hidan’s were light gray, almost silver. She thought that, if there was free time, she might have a snog with Deidara. He was fit and was much taller than Anya. She’d always liked plenty of height on a lad.

            “Nice,” Deidara smiled.

            “A load of help you turned out to be,” Anya said, pointing at finger at Omoi.

            “You think I’d stick my neck out for someone who’s getting booked?” He asked her.

            “I like how you no snitch,” Deidara commented. His English was broken but she’d read that his Japanese was alright. 

            “I liked how she beat her ass,” Hidan sneered in Japanese. Right, she’d read that he was one of the few of them that couldn’t speak English. 

            “You think we can take her back to Pein?” Omoi asked in Japanese.

            Anya stirred at the name. That was Yahiko and the possible leader of the Akatsuki.

            “Probably can. We would do well with some more eye candy,” Hidan grinned.

            Anya’s eyes narrowed and Omoi put a hand on his shoulder.

            “She speaks Japanese, idiot. And she’s not about that life.”

            Hidan frowned but nodded.

            “It looks like you’ll be a part of the Akatsuki after all, Anya,” Omoi smiled.

*

            Anya made them stop on their way to the hideout.

            “I’ve gotta go for a pee,” she whined.

            They let her use one of the washrooms and in there, she dialled up Kakashi. She told him that it looked like she’d gotten in and that they were going to one of the hideouts so that he should try tracking her by cell phone. She also dropped the information about their different nail colours.

            When she stepped back out of the washroom, she found the three men waiting impatiently outside.

            “Are you sure you don’t need to fix your hair, too?” Hidan grunted.

            Anya sent him a warning look but didn’t say anything back.

            “We’ve got a ride to catch, ma,” Omoi told her in English.


	4. Chapter 4

4\. OVERPROTECTIVE  
September 3rd  
LONDON, ENGLAND – 17:27  
Karui played with her food and tried to ignore the boys around her. She’d gotten back from her flight in time for the last hour of dinner. Naruto and Kiba had dug at her for getting sent home from a mission. Kiba still wanted to snog and lay off. She hadn’t told Anya that she and Kiba were seeing each other because she knew Anya hated his guts and would only criticize her taste in guys. After they’d stopped laughing at her, she’d explained that she was related to one of the targets and that their covers would’ve been blown if Anya had been seen with her.  
Kiba put his arm around her for comfort.  
“Something Anya said keeps running around in my head,” she told her boyfriend.  
He seemed disinterested as soon as Anya’s name was called, but he told her to continue.  
“I was really nervous about the mission and you know how I can never stop talking when I’m nervous. She snapped and said, ‘you’re a LEAF agent. Act like one.’”  
Kiba seemed upset.  
“You let her talk to you like that?”  
Karui waved him away.  
“Yeah, at the time I was well upset but when I found out that I couldn’t do the mission, I was so relieved. It was like a weight coming off my shoulders and I realized that I really wasn’t ready. I needed to hear that from Anya.”  
Kiba frowned, clearly off put by Karui taking Anya’s side.  
“You reckon she couldn’t have reworded it? Maybe softened the blow or prettied it up?”  
Karui and the rest of the agents laughed.  
“Have you never spoken to her?” Neji asked. He’d gotten out of the hospital the same day Karui had come back to LEAF and she’d told him Anya had gotten another mission while he’d been recovering.  
“She doesn’t know what rewording, softening or anything like that is,” Neji said.  
“And Neji should know,” Naruto said suggestively.  
Neji huffed.  
“Don’t go on huffing like that, Neji,” Naruto chided. “You know Anya’s well fit.”  
The only reason the blond got away with talking about her like that was because Anya wasn’t there, Sakura and Hinata had gone off somewhere together and Karui and Kiba were whispering to each other.  
The other boys didn’t respond and Naruto rolled his eyes.  
“She’s got one hell of a bum,” Naruto said, daydreaming.  
“She’d beat you into next week if she heard you going on like that,” Shikamaru commented but his cheeks were pink as well.  
“I can’t be the only bloke around here that fancies her,” Naruto whined. “I know you had a thing for her just a while ago, Sasuke.”  
The Uchiha set his fork and knife down and glared at the blond.  
“Wait, really?” Neji asked. He’d known he wasn’t the only one who fancied the young agent, but everyone else was too scared of her to actually develop serious feelings for Anya. He wished he’d been in that same boat.  
“No.”  
“Yeah and Sasuke does this weird thing when he’s into girls. He’ll stare at them like the lemon he is. I can’t even remember how many times I spotted him staring at her bum!”  
Sasuke blanched and turned to Naruto, his eyes murderous.  
“Hey, hey,” Naruto said defensively once he realized he’d said something he wasn’t supposed to. “She’s quite the catch, Sasuke. None of us studs here would refuse her if she wanted to get off with us.”  
The blond looked to the other boys for help.  
“He’s right,” Lee admitted.  
By now Kiba and Karui were picking up their plates of food to leave and Kiba was feeling her up as they left the cafeteria. They were too into each other to even say goodbye.  
“Chouji?” Naruto asked.  
“I guess,” the brunet murmured.  
“Shikamaru,” Naruto smiled.  
“She’s too much to handle,” Shikamaru said.  
“I’d bet even your lazy arse would start working if she promised you a night in return. And we already know Sasuke here is head over heels.”  
Everyone except Neji laughed.  
“What was she like, Neji?” Naruto asked, big blue eyes peering into sharp gray ones. “I bet she was a screamer! Could you imagine being eight inches deep in –?”  
Neji slammed his fist on the table.  
“Would you grow a pair, Naruto?” The long haired man nearly shouted. “How immature and disgusting do you have to be to get off on speaking about women that way?”  
Naruto was caught off guard by his mate’s anger.  
“Hey, Neji, I was just –.”  
“No, you constantly do it, Naruto,” Neji seethed. “Kiba’s up front with his remarks but you go behind her back and say it!” Then he turned to Sasuke.  
“And you, do you always let Naruto degrade the women you fancy?”  
Sasuke began to make up an excuse but Neji cut in.  
“I don’t even want to hear it! You’re all such children. You know why she always has to remind people that she’s more than capable of beating their arse? Why she always has to be the best in everything? It’s because of bastards like you who refuse to give her a break and look at her as a person – not just a pair of tits.”  
Neji sat back in his chair, feeling exhausted.  
“Jesus,” he muttered, “on one mission, we went into this bar and I realized how bad she has it. How bad black women have it. Girls like Sakura or Hinata were threatened with rape when they didn’t accept a man’s offer and the black guys there were called monkeys and other racist crap like that. Anya had to rough out both and that woman never cracked. She didn’t even bat an eyelash.”  
The boys sat silent. The young man had never been one to grow too passionate about anything in particular and he often left the fighting to Naruto, Karui, Kiba, Lee or Anya but he felt a strong connection with Anya and he wouldn’t let his mates, people both he and Anya trusted, trash her.  
The epiphany he’d received from the night at that bar had changed his very soul and the way he saw the world. The first few blokes that had tried something with her, Neji had tried to defend her.  
“No point,” Anya had said with her back to him. “You try to stop all of them and you’ll be fighting for the rest of your life.”  
There’d been sadness but finality in her tone. As if what she’d said upset her deeply, but wasn’t something she could change. He’d been appalled by the men’s behaviour but had grown melancholic when the meaning of her words had set in. What type of terrible people had she run into to make what those men said somehow normal for her? In that moment, he’d wanted badly to take care of all of them for her. He’d wanted to get rid of all the men and women she’d ever met that had made her go through something like that.  
He’d wanted to love her.  
That was the night they’d first had sex. She hadn’t been his first but he’d been hers.  
“I’m sorry, Neji,” Naruto apologized. The blond actually seemed to have been affected by Neji’s rant. Neji simply nodded and began pushing his food around. He’d lost his appetite thinking about Anya in that way. Mainly because thinking about what they’d had would mean thinking about him losing it and having to settle for mates.  
Just before the silence at their table stretched too far, Sakura and Hinata came to the table. The boys lightened up immediately and pretended as though the previous conversation had never happened.


	5. Chapter 5

5\. INFILTRATION   
September 3rd  
DETROIT, MICHIGAN – 19:39  
Anya nearly bounced on her feet outside the doors of the ten story apartment as the three of them waited for Deidara to fish out the key that made the light on the lock turn green. The air was chilly and she only had a tank top and bra underneath her sweater. The streetlights had turned on.  
Her legs were still waking up from the few hours she’d spent riding in the back of their van.   
When she’d first saw the white truck with a licence plate so smudged it was barely legible, her heart had leapt into her mouth. If the three of them were unarmed, she might’ve had a chance to fight her way out if what she thought was going to happen happened. But Omoi, seeing her shocked and slightly frightened expression, had quickly assured her that they weren’t into that business but she would need to give them her cell phone and put on a blindfold.   
Hidan had suggested they tie her up but the other two said it wouldn’t be necessary. Secretly, Anya thought that he was just a freak who would have gotten off on seeing her tied up and blindfolded. She knew there were only two seats up front and prayed that it wouldn’t be Hidan to stay in the back with her. Somehow, Anya knew that with the young girl blindfolded, he’d try something.  
Anya took out the battery from her phone and handed it to them. When Omoi gave her a questioning look, she said that it was a precaution since people could track your phone so long as the battery was in. Really, it had been because Kakashi had a knack for texting and she didn’t want them to see anything that he might send to her.   
It had been Omoi who’d stayed in the back with her. Anya found herself warming up to him since out of the three men he seemed to be the least malicious. Even after the flirtatious way he’d handled her in the diner, when he helped her out of the van, he’d kept his hands on her arms and the one time she’d almost slipped, his hand had rested high on her back.   
Throughout the entire drive, she’d tried to visualize the turns they were taking on a map to find out where they were going. On the plane here, she’d had the sense to study a map of Detroit while Karui talked her ear off. At first, it had proved to be somewhat useful as she could guess the general area they were in after an hour of driving, but when the hour turned into a full on road trip, she’d lost track and had about a handful of ideas of where they could be, all of them in different directions.  
“I knew you were a dumbass but I didn’t know you were dumb enough to freeze your ass out here in the cold,” Omoi acknowledged, bringing Anya back to the present. They were still speaking Japanese.  
Anya tried to be secretive about checking her surroundings and she bent over to lace up her joggers. She hoped that even if any of the men looked over at her, they’d be too distracted to notice her looking up and down the block for any street signs or landmarks   
“He’s a blond, remember?”   
The two men laughed and Deidara finally got the door open. Anya had wondered if she should let the other members know that she could understand them, but she’d already told Omoi about it and she decided to leave the information in his hands. If they got mad at her for holding that back, she could always say she’d thought Omoi had told them.   
She went in last behind Omoi and was hit with the foul stench of stale piss and alcohol.   
“You’re supposed to be filthy rich,” Anya said, looking at a suspicious stain in the carpet floor. She reckoned it was either pee of blood. “I thought that meant rolling in money, not your own piss.”   
Omoi chuckled and patted Anya on her back. He translated what Anya had said and the two men laughed while Deidara pressed the button for the elevator.   
Just as the doors opened and they stepped in, Omoi leaned down to Anya’s ear.   
“Whatever you’re doin’ you gotta keep it up; they starting to like you.”   
Anya stood rigid, so still in fact that Omoi let his hand fall away from her back. Was Omoi saying that as the second undercover agent or as a member of the gang trying to look out for her? Anya wanted to feel up the dynamic of the place to better understand which people had the most power before she started getting off with anyone in particular. She didn’t want to act too cheeky with Omoi only to find out that he wasn’t too well acquainted with the affairs Akatsuki took part in.   
Although, between the three of them, Deidara and Hidan had been a part of the Akatsuki the longest but they both seemed to be following Omoi.   
Anya shook her head and thought back to the basics.   
“Can I get my phone back?” She asked, looking at Omoi in the reflection of the elevator.   
Omoi went into his pockets and took out the battery and Anya’s phone.   
“You’re eager,” he noted, still speaking in English.   
“You’ve never seen a girl who likes to text?”   
Omoi gave her a lopsided smile and Anya smiled back. While Omoi turned his attention to the numbers of the floors flashing by, Anya kept looking at him. She could tell he had a boyish face but he had a rugged layer of facial hair to hide it. He was too close to her height to stir anything in Anya and his cheeks were too round for her taste. He looked lean as well; like he didn’t work out. If it weren’t for the mission, she wouldn’t have given him a second look out on the street.   
Hidan might have been one of those fit studs on the football team in his earlier years, but he was almost twice her age. He didn’t necessarily look it – he was more jacked than Deidara and the blond was definitely a good looking chap. He was about a head taller than Anya and long hair had been something she preferred. Although the combination of blond hair and blue eyes was something she didn’t see as anything special. She preferred darker, brown eyes and black or brown hair.   
Anya slipped her battery into the back of the phone and quickly turned it on silent before the three men would be alerted of Kakashi’s insistent messages. She slipped it into the pocket of her hoodie and walked out second behind Omoi when the elevator doors opened to the tenth floor.   
The elevator dropped them off in the middle of the narrow hallway. It was noticeably cleaner than the reception desk had been. The carpet and walls were clean and devoid of any stains. The smell of lemons and bleach was faint. Omoi moved quickly so Anya only had a chance to glance at the left side of the hallway before Deidara’s hulking form had stepped out of the hallway and stood behind her.   
She’d seen a window and she was sure that, as long as they were still in Detroit, if she looked out of it she’d be able to figure out where she was and send the address to Kakashi. She’d seen a few rooms – maybe four or five – to the left of the elevator and, following Omoi, saw five more. On the front of most of the doors were single splatters of different colours of paint. Most had just one colour but two doors had two different colours.   
Omoi led her to two doors at the end of the hallway. The one he opened was beside one with a black splatter of paint and was across a door with white paint on it.   
The light inside the room was noticeably dimmer than the light outside the hallway had been. The floor was made of wood, different from the dreary brown carpets outside. None of the three men took off their joggers so Anya also kept hers. She followed Omoi down the hall and he turned right into the living room filled with about ten people. There were packs of papers scattered about and a few open, still steaming Styrofoam cups of ramen. The room smelled a bit staler than the rest of the floor, but Anya figured this was where they all met up and the other rooms were where they slept. There were highlighters all over the floor along with a few pens and pencils.   
“We got the rookie,” Omoi said in Japanese. It seemed that Japanese was the only language all of them spoke fluently.   
Anya stepped out from behind Omoi and nodded to everyone. She took time to study everyone in the room and tried to discover anything solely from the way they sat down. Konan and Nagato sat on a chair together. They weren’t arm in arm or anything like that and could tell the two had nothing more than a professional relationship. Konan’s nails were green and Nagato’s were orange. Konan wore navy blue sleeveless top and matching pants. Nagato wore a baggy black sweater and dark pants.   
Ino and Tayuya sat together on the floor by the table in the centre of the living room cross legged. Ino had a calculator in her left hand, a pile of papers in her lap and was shovelling noodles into her mouth with her right hand. Her nails were pink; matching the t-shirt she wore that revealed her stomach. Tayuya was also eating food but with less urgency. Her nails were a loud yellow. Tayuya had on a purple beanie atop her red hair and a loose white shirt over dark pants.   
Anya figured Kisame would have been fit if it weren’t for his weird blue hair and the ridiculous gills he drew on his face. He sat on the right side of a bigger couch by himself, his legs crossed at the ankles and his arms out and relaxed. His nails were painted navy. He had on a white wife beater and tight black pants.   
When Anya’s eyes landed on the last person in the room, they nearly bugged out of her head. His sharp eyes, consistent frown and onyx hair made something in her head click and for a moment, she watched him in dread, thinking that not only had the mission already fallen apart before it had started, but once this man claimed he recognized her, she’d be dead as well. No way was she making it out of their headquarters alive.   
It was when the man gave her a confused look that she realized he didn’t look familiar because she’d seen him before but because he looked like someone she saw nearly every day. This was Sasuke’s older brother; the infamous eldest Uchiha.   
Itachi leaned back in a chair he’d pulled up from the dining table with his legs and arms crossed. His nails were black. She knew she’d been looking at him for too long and she prayed it hadn’t been obvious that she’d recognized him.   
Kabuto wasn’t in the room.   
“Welcome, new girl,” Tayuya smiled cunningly.   
“We don’t know if she’ll be here for sure,” Konan reminded them.   
Anya stood in the doorway awkwardly, trying to figure out which people she should try to get in with while Omoi took a seat beside Kisame. Deidara said excuse me and Anya moved out of his way. He gave her a small wink that only she could see and made sure his chest brushed against hers as he passed by. Hidan wasn’t so subtle.   
He slapped her bum and before she could think about what she was doing, she’d grabbed his wrist in an iron grip. Her anger roared and the talking in the room quieted down until it was silent. Her fury seemed to be physically rippling off of her like heat but Hidan didn’t seem fazed. He just smirked down at her. It was only when Anya’s free hand formed a fist at her side that his expression faltered.  
After another tense moment, Anya managed to gather her wits and reign in her temper. She definitely didn’t want to take on a guy who cut up his victims over six hundred times just to watch them bleed out.   
“Don’t ever touch me again,” she warned. She let go of Hidan’s wrist and let her fist fall limp to her side.  
The silence in the room was suffocating as the other members tried to think about what she’d just done and what it meant. So she looked over to the only person in the room she was familiar with.   
“Omoi,” she called, “I’m busting for a pee.”   
“Second door on your left, ma,” he said.   
Anya nodded and walked back down a different hallway. There were no pictures or any personal items hung up on any of the walls. Anya ducked into the washroom and locked the door behind her. She pulled down her pants, sat down and flipped open her phone. There were two messages from Kakashi, both texts.   
HAD 2 SEND KARUI HOME WILL BE THINKING OF PULLING THE MISSION. BE CAREFUL  
WHATS HAPPENED AND Y CANT I TRACK U  
Anya typed quickly to her mission controller.   
IVE BEEN PRETTY DAMN JAMMY THEY LIKE ME AND BROUGHT ME TO THEIR BASE. SEND CAMERAS AND MICROPHONES TO MY PLACE AND I’LL SET THEM UP HERE. THEY TOOK THE BATTERY OUT WHILE WE DROVE HERE. IT WAS IN A VAN. IT WAS A FEW HOURS FROM WHERE WE’D MET UP. I’M NOT EVEN SURE IF IT’S STILL IN DETROIT BUT I’LL BE ABLE TO TELL IN A FEW DAYS. THT COLOUR THING THEY DO HERE TO SAY WHICH ROOM IS THEIRS ID B FINE ON MY OWN.   
She sent the text, flushed the toilet and washed her hands.   
When she walked back into the room, they continued talking as if she wasn’t there so Anya slunk away into the corner where Itachi was. She stood behind him with her arms crossed, watching the whole scene. She figured getting with Ino and Tayuya would be easiest since they were all girls and they seemed to be pretty fun.   
Suddenly, Itachi got up from his chair and turned to look at her.   
“Would you like to sit?” His voice was deeper and smoother than Sasuke’s and his British accent was thicker than Anya had expected it to be.   
Anya nodded and immediately began lecturing herself on why she shouldn’t bother getting attached to anyone on a mission, particularly the bad guys.   
In a second, Itachi had come back with a second chair and had put it down a good distance away from his. He didn’t look at Anya again and she sat down on the chair beside him.   
“Good old Itachi,” Tayuya laughed. “He’s the gentleman of the gang.” The redhead flashed Itachi a wink and bit her bottom lip seductively.   
The Uchiha simply rolled his eyes and set his attention to the floor.   
“Anya,” Konan called.   
“Yes?”   
“Get out of the room,” she said in English.   
She looked questioningly to the leader but got out of her chair.   
“We finna have a meeting where we talk and shit about whether or not we should take you,” Omoi explained. “Wait down the hall and we’ll call you back in when we ready, ma.”   
Anya nodded, trying not to seem too enthusiastic. She hoped the camera on her phone was good enough to get a good picture of what was outside that window.

**Author's Note:**

> B) really hope you looked it B) thanks for reading B)


End file.
